Would you rather Peyton Manning win the MVP award instead of Adrian Peterson? Or would you rather have the Broncos get the No. 1 AFC playoff seed?

With the Houston Texans losing at home to the Minnesota Vikings, 16-6. late in the third quarter, the chances increase that the Broncos can attain the AFC’s No. 1 playoff seed which would mean home-field advantage throughout the playoffs leading up to the Super Bowl.

And even that will be played in Peyton Manning’s hometown of New Orleans.

It’s been verified by Elias Sports Bureau that the third-place Oakland Raiders are eliminated from the division title even though with a 3-8 record they can mathematically match the Broncos, who are currently 8-3, with five games remaining.

Five straight wins by the Raiders and five straight losses by the Broncos, though, would still give the Broncos the tiebreaker of best record against common opponents. Under this unlikely scenario of five consecutive Raider wins and five consecutive Bronco losses, the Broncos and Raiders would be tied in their head-to-head series, 1-1. The Broncos and Raiders would each have a 4-2 record within the division.

Broncos defensive end Robert Ayers (91) just about gets a block on a Chiefs field goal Sunday. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

KANSAS CITY — As the Broncos were walking up the tunnel that leads from the Arrowhead Stadium field where they had just won to the visiting locker room, head coach John Fox noticed that Robert Ayers was a few paces in front of him.

Fox yelled for Ayers’ attention, caught up to his defensive lineman and gave him a great big man hug with some encouraging and sympathic words.

Kansas City — Had Broncos rookie cornerback Omar Bolden not been cleared from the concussion he suffered last week against San Diego, there was a decent chance veteran cornerback Tracy Porter would have dressed for the game here today against the Kansas City Cheifs.

But Bolden was cleared and Porter, who was sidelined the previous five weeks because of seizure symptoms, is inactive.

Kansas City — If the Broncos always played against the Kansas City Chiefs, Knowshon Moreno, who will start in placed of the injured Willis McGahee today, would not have been considered a first-round disappointment.

He has played in four games, and part of a fifth against the Chiefs. He has 84 combined carries for 455 yards (a 5.4 yard average) and four touchdowns.

In his rookie season of 2009, Moreno had two, 2 TD games against the Chiefs. In 2010, he had two 100-yard games including his career high of 161 against the Chiefs. And last year he had 52 yards on four carries against them before he suffered a torn ACL.

That history is one reason why Moreno is expected to start at tailback today in placed of the injured Willis McGahee.

Kansas City — Ryan Clady is the only NFL tackle who has started every game and not allowed a sack.

But Clady has said that Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Tamba Hali is one of the tougher guys for him to keep off the quarterback. Hali had a three-sack game against the Broncos in 2009 and a two-sack game in 2010. Clady is getting better against Hali, though: He held him sackless in two games last year. Today is their first meeting this year.

I’ll go along with the comparisons between the Broncos’ pass-rushing linebacker Von Miller and former Kansas City Chiefs pass-rushing linebacker Derrick Thomas.

Miller wears No. 58 in honor of the Thomas and he does resemble him physically. Miller came into the league at 6-foot-3, 237. Thomas was listed at 6-3, 243. Thomas was sensational early in his career. He had 10 sacks as a rookie; 20 in year two and 58 through four years — an average of 14.5 per season.

Clinton Portis celebrates with a world heavyweight belt given to him by Shannon Sharpe after Portis scored five of the team's six TDs against the Chiefs on Dec. 7, 2003.

When Peyton Manning signs with Denver, he will immediately became the most significant free-agent catch in Broncos history. Here are the 10 biggest personnel moves in Broncos history prior to landing Manning.

1. Trade: In 1983, the Broncos changed the course of the team’s history when they sent guard Chris Hinton, quarterback Mark Herrmann and a first-round pick in the 1984 draft to the Colts for the rights to Stanford quarterback John Elway. The Colts eventually used that ’84 pick on guard Ron Solt, who played nine seasons in the league, a nice career. But three nice careers do not add up to one all-time great and two Super Bowl titles.

Mike Klis has been with The Denver Post since 1998, after working 13 years with the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph. Major League Baseball was Klis' initial passion. He started covering the Colorado Rockies after Coors Field was approved for construction in August 1990.

Nicki Jhabvala is the Sports Digital News Editor for The Denver Post. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor, and she was most recently the overnight home page editor at the New York Times. She has reported regularly on the Broncos since joining the staff.

A published author and award-winning journalist, Benjamin Hochman is a sports columnist for The Denver Post. He previously worked on the staff of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, winners of two Pulitzer Prizes for their Hurricane Katrina coverage.